Gold!

Imagine a treasure trove of golden objects....

Gold! is a story-planning workshop for Years 2 - 4.

Traditional stories have predictable patterns. If your children have a sound understanding of these patterns, they will find it much easier to write new stories of their own. Without them, they can struggle - especially when their story starts to fall apart midway through.

I speak from harsh experience. I had to write one of my novels twicebecause of a lack of pre-planning. So now I truly appreciate the value of a clear plan! The old patterns are a great platform to spring from when spinning a new tale.

​​That is what this workshop is all about: discovering patterns and using them to plan new stories.

A Gold! day consists of two or four sessions:

A morning can accommodate one class (two x one hour sessions) A full day can accommodate three classes​(a group session + 3 individual class sessions)

Session 1: Discovering the Patterns (one hour)

I tell a traditional story then de-construct it with the children's help. We look at it sequentially and examine the key elements - how they work, how they fit together. The children learn why there must be a logicto their stories. Elements cannot be used randomly.

Session 2: Playing with the Patterns (one hour)

This is where my treasure trove of objects come in...​

My gorgeous golden objects are guaranteed to fire up imaginations and generate ideas. The children are allowed to hold the treasures, so it becomes a truly hands-on experience for tactile learners. We begin with group work, sharing story ideas. If you are following Pie Corbett's Talk4Writing system, you will know children need to be able to tell a story before they can write it with any degree of clarity.

​The children experiment with the story pattern, fitting the objects into it. By the end of the lesson, they areworking alone, planning their own stories. There is not enough time in one hour to begin writing, but they will be keen to write their stories up and share their ideas on paper.

I collected the objects on my travels. The lamp is from Muscat in Oman. The piglet is from Barcelona. The snow globe is from Zwolle in the Netherlands. Children love holding objects that have come from another part of the world.

Other things were found closer to home. The giant's keys came from my local garden centre! My golden bell came from a charity shop. Where did it come from originally? Why did it end up in a charity shop?

It's important for children to learn there are stories in everything. All objects have value.

The objects are larger than these photos might suggest. The piglet is 25 cm from snout to tail!​And there are MORE objects than are shown here. These are just a selection.​

Fourth sessionof the day: If you are two-form entry, I can be very flexible with the 'spare' fourth session.

I can do a Princess and Her Three Suitors session for your Year 3 or Year 4. This also looks at patterns. The children play story detectives and have to predict what will happen in a traditional Indian story. Because it's a totally oral session, I can work with two classes combined and get it all done within one hour.

I can do a Meet the Author / performance session for your KS1 or KS2 classes.